Germany approves over $100 million in arms exports to Israel, angering rights groups
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights says it is seeking to halt further exports, which it claims endanger lives of Gaza’s civilians and violate international law
BERLIN — Germany has authorized over $100 million in military exports to Israel in the last three months, foreign ministry data showed on Thursday, coinciding with the latest legal challenge by human rights groups concerned about the potential use of these weapons in the war Israel is fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Germany has approved €94 million ($101 million) in arms exports to Israel since August 2024, according to a government response to a parliamentary inquiry by left-wing lawmaker Sevim Dagdelen.
The new permits followed a significant drop in arms exports to Israel in the first half of the year.
The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) said on Thursday it had filed an appeal at the Frankfurt Administrative Court on behalf of a Gaza resident, seeking to halt further arms exports.
The appeal says German weapons are contributing to civilian harm in Gaza. The plaintiff, a Gaza resident who lost his wife and daughter in Israeli airstrikes, says ongoing arms shipments place his life and the lives of others in danger, calling on Germany to stop facilitating these transfers.
The action aimed at Germany’s Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA), responsible for such approval, focuses on Germany’s approval of military exports that could be used in the conflict, the ECCHR said, including tank parts from German defense firm Renk Group AG R3NK.DE, which supplies components for Israel’s Merkava tanks.
Renk Group AG was not immediately available for comment on the case.
Germany’s economy ministry was also not immediately available for comment on the new case. The government has previously said it examines each arms export individually and takes a number of factors into account, including human rights and humanitarian law.
The ECCHR says Germany’s exports violate international law, citing the Arms Trade Treaty, which prohibits arms transfers if there is a significant risk they will be used to commit war crimes.
Earlier this month, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stated that Berlin was awaiting a formal assurance from Israel that German-supplied military equipment would be used in compliance with international humanitarian law.
Legal challenges across Europe have also led other allies of Israel to pause or suspend arms exports, but no case challenging German arms exports to Israel has yet succeeded.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 42,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7, when the Hamas terror group slaughtered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seized 251 hostages during a brutal invasion and massacre in southern Israel.
Israel insists it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
